Real Deal, or Real Steal

So this is one of those posts about, if the deal sounds too good to be true, then it probably is not.  And move on, don't look back.

We were in the Bahamas in the Marina Village window shopping after dinner.  We were in a store and Tresa was looking at sunglasses.  She tried on a bunch and there was this Tom Ford pair that she liked.  All the other ones were kinda big.  And made her head look even smaller.  Sort of like Beaker from the muppets.

Anyways they were $560.00 USD. Everything in the Bahamas is expensive.  So we didn't buy them.  Tresa was furiously surfing on her ipad and consuming WiFi bandwidth like she uses hot water in the shower.
So she found it on a Sunglasshut-outlet.com.

I should have looked at the site closer.  It would have been crystal clear that this was a fake site.  Sunglasshut doesn't even have an Outlet website.  But they ripped off the logo of SunglassHut which had me confused. Is it a real site?
What gave it away was if you read the title of the glasses it says "Avaitor"
WTF are "Avaitor" style sunglasses? I am getting flashbacks to all those Gucci sweatshirts tita Puri brought back from the Philippines with spelling errors when I was a kid.

In any case I didn't read it and the purchase process is non-standard and you don't get to review the order prior to confirming.  They confirm for you SUCKER!  Anyways they arrived.  In a brown cardboard box from China, that I recycled.  It wasn't even bubble wrapped.   And when I took them out.  They weren't even the right fake model.  They were DIOR.

Anyways they were fake. Crappy fakes.  Probably cost a few dollars to make.  More to ship.  So anyways here's the differences between the Real Deal and the Real Steal (stole my money the POS).

The box that the real ones came in was a nicely packaged box, with some Tom Ford propaganda that I didn't read.  The glasses came in a case that were in the box.
The fakes came in a cheap cardboard box that had chinese lettering on it.  Stamped from China.  Nice touch.  Although the glasses say 'made in Italy', (by way of China.)

The glasses themselves felt super cheap.  The hinges were loose when you close the arms they make this click sound that tells you that it's made of cheap material, that they probably put in their food too.

The lens on the real ones have a laser etched TOM FORD on the corner.  The fakes have Dior printed on it.  It's already wearing off.  Like my patience.

The case is a joke on the fake.  They just scream fake, just like all those Real PVC Coach and LV bags the asian ladies carry around. In any case the zipper broke so it doesn't close anymore. POS.
But it did come with a cloth, but it doesn't feel like microfiber.  It feels like crap.  The silkscreened lettering is coming off too.

The real deal case is large and roomy.  Although not a hard case, it has embossed lettering and a magnetic closure.  The cloth it came with was in a sealed bag.  So it didn't arrive dusty.

 Here are the fakes.  I think there were things on the side that fell off.  I can't remember what the holes were for.  The hinges are black and cheap.  One is looser than the other.  So if you tilt the glasses in your hand.  One arm will close.  It feels like dollar store plastic, that will melt if you left them in your car.

Dior made in Italy.  Ya right.







Looking through the lenses, it just darker.  Kinda like the 3D glasses we got at the movie theatre when we watched Dispicable Me 2.
the whole thing feels light.  So the lenses are probably cheap plastic.  Doubt if they will protect your eyes from UV.

So here are the real deal.  First of all the right glasses were shipped. There's little metal details that are evident.
Also the glasses are noticeably heavier.  Not super heavy like bricks, they are still light, but it feels solid.  Like they won't fall apart if you put them on your head.




The hinges are a solid.  The arms don't swing loosely.

The detail items don't feel like there are going to fall off any times soon.

Overall looking through the lens, it looks clear.  It's not as dark as the fakes, but you don't want your visibility impaired.  You want the glasses to enhance what you are seeing.

Double hinge.  Made in Italy.
If it looks like an online deal is too good to be true, it probably means that it's coming from China.

They even charged my CC an incorrect amount.
however I managed to get our money back.  Took about 2 weeks.  But I got it back.  This is Fraud.

When I went back to the site, it had been taken down and an Oakley webpage saying that they took down sunglasshut-outlet.com and pursuing legal action.

Good Luck.

Coffee break

Our 15 year old Braun coffee maker stopped brewing on Sunday Aug 11. Being the only coffee drinker. This was a problem. Goodbye old friend. You were a reliable appliance. The only thing I ever had to replace on this thing was the hinged lid on the carafe. You can't even get the carafe anymore. That's how old this thing is.  They no longer make the 12 cup any more, but they do make a 5 and 10 cup version.

I really liked this coffee maker.  It was simple.  I even taught Kieran how to make coffee.  I think they only make the smaller one now.
So for the past week I've been boiling water and using the Broken Braun like a bodum.

It worked on Saturday, brewed some coffee after I returned from the club ride.  On Sunday ready for a morning brew.  I turned it on as usual and it did nothing.
I think the little pump went.  The heating element under the carafe also stopped working.  I'm wondering if I can repair it?  I'll check that out before I toss it to the great landfill under the Michigan sky.

But it was also leaking onto our high end 70's laminate particle wood counter.  So maybe I'll just toss it.  Maybe someone looking for parts for their still working Braun will want whatever is still good.

So I was shopping for an alternative.  I didn't want to get one of those POD type coffee makers that brew singles.  Because in reviews I've read, the coffee is not that great, even the best ones create mediocre tasting coffee,  The pods can make the cost of a single cup of coffee about the same as going to Tims or McD's.  Whereas with a drip coffee maker, I have much more control over the flavour and strength of the coffee.  With those pod ones.  I cannot. You get what it puts out.  And sometimes a pod may not work if it can't read the bar code.  What then?  Toss it out.  Waste. That doesn't happen with a drip coffee maker.  And then when you run of pods, you need to get more and they aren't cheap.  A bag of coffee beans can cost $10.00 and it'll make a lot of coffee.   I don't know how many exactly but it'll last me months.

In Consumer reports on coffee makers, spending a lot of moola on a coffee maker doesn't guarantee you great tasting coffee.  The cheapest ones <$30.00 produced great coffee.  And since we are redoing our kitchen next year I just wanted a simple one.  Saw this red Diamonds one on sale, but Tresa veto'd that one.  There was one that was on sale for $15, but it was a 5 cup.  And that was just too small if folks come over.  Then in today's flyer a 12 cup B&D was on sale for $15.00.  So there it is next to our old Braun.
One thing about the black.  It doesn't show the coffee stains.

Coffee is brewing again!

Simcoe Day

It was Lord Simcoe Day.  Thank you for this holiday in the summer.  Long weekends should be mandatory.  I had brought Kieran's bike up as well since it has a front suspension fork and gearing for him to be able to climb Sir Sam's.  I was a little unsure if he would make it, but he is a trooper.  The climbing part was a little tough for him, but when it got too difficult he would jump off in stride and push his bike up the hill.  

I tried to avoid the black trails since those are the advanced trails since they would be too steep for his little 20" bike.  I'm hoping that his next bike would be the 26".  There is a 24" but if he can jump to the 26" that would last a lot longer.  But riding a larger frame might be a difficult task.  Handling it would be more challenging.  But we will come to that road when we cross it.

His new MEC bike has the grip shifts.  I'm not a big fan of the grip shift.  But it is very simplistic.   His bike has 1 chainring and 7 or 8 speed cassette.  I think it's 8.  But Kieran basically rode on 1 gear the whole time.  His largest cog on the back.  He'll learn to spin at a high rate.  That's a good thing.  The path up to the top zig zags quite a bit.  I found it hard to translate the map to the hill.  But the trail is pretty clear.

This bike has only V-brakes.  So my first priority before taking him to the hills was to get him used to them.   No more coaster brake.

His balance is really good.  He's bash his pedal against a root or rock and it would bump his bike a bit, but he would give a little yelp, but continue on.  Sir Sam's pretty familiar territory for us since we ski here when we are up during the winter.

At the top of the hill there is a little obstacle track that he can ride.  And there are wooded trails that are pretty flat but there are roots, rocks and bridges that make it challenging, and we did them.  It's too bad it started to rain.

I was hoping that the rain would be an isolated cloud and move on. But it started to come down steady.  And having ridden in wet weather before.  It can get pretty slick.  So we headed back down the way we came.  I didn't want to bring him down the left most trails because I thought they were a little too steep, but I think he could have done them.  Maybe next year.  I think he's a little small still.

We'd ridden for about an hour straight and we'd covered 5.5km.  That's enough for him.  Especially since he had to climb for a long time.  He said his legs were getting tired climbing.  So an hour was good.

The day before the Orillia kids came over.
It doesn't matter that it wasn't too hot out.
They still went in the lake for a good few hours.
They came out of the water shivering, but they didn't care.  They wanted to play.  They wanted to do a campfire and s'mores.

And even when they were all dressed and ready to go home, they still managed to go into the lake and play.

Going back and forth under the dock.

Then floating away into the middle of the lake, almost.

Open bag - don't take it

The Civic's fuel/trunk release lever was becoming non-compliant.  ie. It was sticking.  Usually you press the lever to open the fuel door and it'll easily go back to it's original position.  It was no longer springing back like it did.

I asked my brother if he knew what what going on and he said this had happened before, the cable gets corroded and seizes.  Then you can't open the fuel door, but you can if you remove the little plunger thing that releases the door. If you google this problem it's common on 2001-2005 civics. I've never replaced this cable on my Subaru.  This is the second time on the Civic.  He said had to pay $200+ to get it fixed.  FORGET that man!  That's highway robbery.  

The cable itself is $96CAD (incl tax) from the dealership.  I did a search and in the US, people were saying the cable costs around $40USD.  Which is what I would've expected it to be.  But since we are in the Big Smoke.  The dealerships will blow some smoke rings up your butt to burn you for more dollars.

Did you know that it's the dealer that sets the price for the part.  Not HONDA Canada.  I wondered why a window regulator was $82USD in NJ and $225CAD in Toronto.  That is wrong. Wrong. WRONG.  Just wrong.  It just sounds like collusion.

Apparently this part you can't get aftermarket.  I had called PartSource originally and they didn't have it.  So I had no choice but to go to the dealer.  First thing you'll need to replace the cable is to ensure you get a non-defective dealer part.  I had to go back and prove it wasn't my fault.  The Parts guy assumed I installed it wrong.  I did not install it wrong.  I installed it loosely to ensure there were no kinks.  Since that can prevent the cable from working properly.

Once the service guys checked it out and determined that the cable was a problem they said to me to go get a new part.  I was cleared.  The other thing was to not take a dealer part that is in an open bag.  The second part I got worked perfectly.  I told the parts guy that the first part he gave me was in an opened bag.  After that he realized that he had made the mistake.  Not MOI, my friend!

I had cut the cable farther down to see what was causing the problem.  Sure enough.  The cable had wicked up the water from the winter time and it was rusted inside.   It eventually seized today and I couldn't shut the trunk or open the fuel door.  In a way we were kinda lucky.  We just got home from the cottage.  I had sprayed WD-40 and silicone when it started to stick about a week ago, but that did nothing.

It takes probably 20mins to remove all the trim.  You need to remove all the floor trim on the driver's side from front where the hood release is all the way to the rear seat, because the cable is running under there.

And another 30mins to install the new cable and put it back.  You basically need these tools to do this.  Plus two hands and a pair of gloves because you'll probably cut your hands on the edges of the trim.
That bent screwdriver looking thing is a must.  It's a trim tool.  You can get it at Harbor Freight or Princess Auto.  It's like a $5 tool.  You use to remove all those little buttons that hold trim onto the frame.  The most important tool is the credit card to buy the frigging cable.